In my arms again
by katanaZ
Summary: Over two years ago, Aang left Katara to go on an important Avatar mission. But one day, he suddenly bumps into her on a market place. But for two long years, Katara has kept a secret from him…


**This is planned as a one-shot, but if people like it I may write some more chapters… Sometime in the future, when I have the time.**

**Katara is 21 years old, and Aang is 19.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

* * *

_Katara stood on a balcony and watched the mountains around her. It was spring, and the snow on the mountains was slowly melting. The trees were covered with flowers, and grass grew in the cracks of the derelict building. Aang had worked hard on rebuilding the southern air temple, but as the Avatar he had much more important duties. Like the mission he was going on now. Katara saw him down on the platform. He air bended the saddle on Appa. She had to go down and say good bye now, before he left._

_Katara hurried down the stairs. Her light blue dress fluttered behind her when she ran. _

"_Katara..?" Sokka said when she ran by him. _

_Katara didn't answer him._

_Aang looked up when she came running towards him. He gave her a sad smile and opened his arm for her. Katara hugged him close to her, and she didn't want to let him go._

"_Don't go." She mumbled against his chest._

"_You know I have to, Katara." He said._

_She met his gaze. "But Aang… Do you really think that you will find any airbenders?"_

"_It's the only hope. The Avatar cycle will be broken the next time the Avatar will be born in the Air Nomads, if I don't find airbenders."_

"_But Aang… You could stay here. We could get married, and I would happily give birth to as many children you would need to repopulate the Air Nomads."_

_Aang smiled. "I love you, Katara. But I don't want to turn you into a baby machine. And I will marry you…" He touched the betrothal necklace around her neck. "…as soon as I get back."_

_Katara sighed, and Aang kissed her. Katara knew that it was a good bye kiss._

"_I will only be gone for six months. I promise." He whispered in her ear._

"_I will wait for you." Katara said, and kissed him again._

_Aang pulled back. He air bended himself up on Appa's head._

"_I love you." He said, and then Appa groaned and lifted._

_Katara saw Appa fly away from her. Tears streamed down her face. She already missed Aang._

_Sokka had followed her, and now he laid an arm around her shoulders._

"_He will be back soon." Sokka said comforting._

"_I hope you are right." Katara said. _

_She moved her hands to her tummy, where she was keeping a great secret. A secret that she hadn't even told Aang._

-:-:-

The little boy stood all alone on the market place. He looked around, his eyes widened of fear.

"Mommy!" He cried.

Aang felt sorry for the boy. He looked like he was about two years old, too young to be walking alone. Aang was actually in a hurry, but he couldn't just turn his back on a little child in need. He walked up to the boy and sat down on one knee on the ground. The boy took a step back.

"Hey, little guy. Have you lost your parents?"

The child just stared at him with his big, grey eyes.

"I can help you find them. Will you come with me?"

The boy nodded, tears streaming down his face. Aang reached out a hand for him, and the boy took it. They started to walk through the crowd.

"What is your parents' name?" Aang asked.

"Mommy." The little boy said.

Aang realized that he was probably too young to know his moms name. They walked really slowly, and the boy held Aang's hand really tight so that he wouldn't fall. The boy was pretty unsteady, and Aang understood that he had probably learned how to walk recently.

"You are pretty tired, aren't you? Do you want me to carry you?"

Aang thought that his mother also would have easier to spot the boy if Aang was holding him. He lifted up the boy, and the boy wrapped his arms around Aang's neck.

Aang saw a fountain in the middle of the market place, and he walked towards it. He was planning to step up on the platform around it, so that they would be easier to spot. But on the way there, he suddenly bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry!" The woman said. "I'm just-"

The woman froze and stared at Aang. Aang looked into a pair of blue eyes that he hadn't seen for over two years.

"K-Katara?"

"Aang."

"Mommy!"

The little boy reached out his hands for Katara. A wave of relief rinsed over Katara's face. She quickly took the boy from Aang's arms, and she hugged him close. Aang gaped.

"Y-you… Have a kid?" He stuttered.

"Yes." Katara said. "It was nice meeting you again, and thank you for your help. But I have to get going now."

She turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Aang shouted.

Katara didn't turn around. She quickly walked away from him with the child in her arms.

Aang didn't know what to do. He hadn't seen her for over two years. He couldn't just let her walk away now that he had finally found her.

"Katara, please wait!" This time she turned around and waited until he had reached her. Her lips were a narrow line.

"What is it, Avatar Aang?" She said coldly.

She must be really mad, Aang thought.

"Katara, please, let me talk to you. I have been searching all over the world for you. You have to let me talk to you!"

"There is nothing to talk about." Katara sighed. "What happened… It's all in the past. I have a new life now, Aang. And I'm happy. Don't tear up old wounds. Please."

Katara walked away, leaving Aang heart crushed again.

-:-:-

Aang stood hidden in the shadows. On the other side of the road, there was a small earth kingdom house. The light from the house streamed out from the windows. Aang could see Katara walk around in there. Her hair was longer than it had been when they last saw each other. Her body had changed, became more feminine. But those blue eyes were still the same.

Aang had followed her when she walked away from him. She had walked to this house, and Aang had been standing outside it the entire day. He had totally forgotten that he had been in a hurry. But he didn't dare to go over to the house. Katara hadn't seemed so happy to see him.

No one else had come to the house under the day. And he hadn't seen anybody else in the house. That meant that she was alone. Aang wondered where her husband was. Or did she live alone? He didn't know which of these were worst.

Aang saw Katara at the window again. She was looking right at him, and he stepped back in the shadows. He knew that she couldn't see him. Katara moved her gaze to the sky. Aang looked up as well, and saw that the stars were starting to show. Katara sighed. She looked really sad. And lonely. Aang hated that she looked like that. Katara disappeared from the window. Aang stepped out from the shadows and walked to the door. He stopped in front of it, unsure if he should knock or not. But then the door flew open. Katara stared surprised at him.

"Aang… What are you doing here?"

"I just… I wanted to visit you." Katara looked like she was going to say no, and Aang quickly said. "Katara, I'm sorry for everything that happened. But we are still friends, aren't we? I haven't seen you for over two years. Please, let me come in."

Katara didn't answer, but she stepped aside so that Aang could come in.

"Sit down." She said and did a gesture against a tea table in another room. Aang sat down, and Katara disappeared into the kitchen. She came back with a tray with tea and cups.

Aang felt like he had to say something, but he couldn't figure out what to say. The silence was getting awkward. Thankfully, Katara broke it.

"So… You were gone a long time. Did you find any airbenders?"

Aang could hear the effort in her polite voice. He knew that she was angry at him for being away for such a long time. But she still seemed to be curious about how his mission went.

"Umm… no. I searched the whole world for airbenders. They are extinct."

"Oh… I'm sorry. What took you so long, then?"

"There may not be any Air Nomads left… but I found a sky bison colony."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They have been living on the top of a high mountain, above the clouds. That's why nobody has seen them. The sky bison can teach the humans airbending again, like they did thousands of years ago. The hope for the airbenders isn't gone."

"That's great. Appa must be so happy that he had found friends of his own kind." Katara smiled for the first time since Aang had met her today. And the smile wasn't for him, it was for Appa.

"Yes. Appa has even found a mate there." Aang said. He smiled back at Katara, but her smile faded and she looked down.

"I'm happy for him." She just said.

Aang didn't know anything more to say. He took a sip of his tea and looked around in the room.

"This is a pretty nice home. Do you live her all the time?" He asked.

He couldn't believe that he was talking like this with _Katara_. They had been close ever since they first met! Now he had to make an effort to keep up a conversation.

"Yeah… The earth king offered me this house. I have lived here ever since… ever since my son was born." Katara said.

Aang felt that Katara was uncomfortable talking about her son. She didn't look him in the eyes.

"He is a really beautiful boy. His dad must be proud."

Katara winched, but then she slowly nodded.

"Katara…" Aang's heart was pounding like crazy. "I'm his father, aren't I?"

Katara didn't answer. She slowly met his gaze. She had tears in her eyes.

Aang got up from his seat and turned his back against Katara. He couldn't believe it. He had a son. A son that he hadn't known about.

"Why… why didn't you tell me that I have a son?" He asked.

"Aang, you have to understand. I was alone, I was scared…"

"Well, you wouldn't have been alone, IF YOU HAD TOLD ME!"

"You had other things to worry about, I didn't think-"

"He is my SON! Do you think that I would have turned my back on MY OWN SON!"

Katara stood up. "Well you turned your back ON ME!"

"That was DIFFERENT! You said that you understood, you said that you could wait for me!"

"And YOU said that you would be gone for 6 MONTHS! YOU WERE GONE FOR OVER TWO YEARS!"

"Well maybe I would have come back quicker if YOU HADN'T DISSAPEARED! Do you KNOW how much time I have spent SEARCHING FOR YOU?"

"NO, I DON'T! But, Sokka told me that you got back three months ago, so I GUESS that you haven't been searching for too long!"

"AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I DIDN'T SEARCH FOR YOU WHILE I WAS GONE?"

"WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE-"

They both became quiet when they heard I child cry in the other room. Katara gasped and hurried towards the sound. Aang followed her, but she stopped and faced him.

"I think that you should go, Aang."

"You are not going to let me meet my son?"

"No… not tonight."

She disappeared through the door. Aang was hoarse after the screaming, and she felt ashamed that he had lost his temper like that. Maybe Katara was right, maybe he should just go.

But then he heard a humming voice from the room Katara had went to. He knew that melody. He slowly opened the door.

Katara was standing in the room, rocking her son. She was humming the melody to calm down the crying child. Aang felt his heart ache. He watched Katara comfort her child. Their child. This was how he had imaged that his life would be. He, Katara, and their children. Instead he had ruined it all.

The little boy yawned and rested his head at Katara's shoulder. His eyes closed. Katara laid the child back down in the bed. She kissed him on his forehead.

"I love you, honey." She whispered.

She turned around and saw Aang stand in the doorway. They walked out from the room and Katara closed the door carefully.

The returned to the table and Katara picked up her cup that had fallen on the floor.

"The resting lotus." Aang said.

"What?"

"The tune you were humming. I recognized it from my childhood. Its name is 'The resting lotus'. The nuns used to sing it for me."

"Oh. I don't even remember where I learned it from."

Aang reached out a hand and touched Katara's arm. "Katara… I'm so sorry that it took me so long to come back. I'm so sorry that I wasn't here for you and our son."

Katara sighed. "I know that I should have told you about him. But it was just… We weren't even married. My father wanted me to keep it a secret. He didn't want it to be known that the Avatar's fiancée was pregnant. We all thought that you would be back soon, and that we could get married before I gave birth. But you didn't come. I was so afraid… I had to take care of a child by myself! I was so angry at you for breaking your promise. I wanted to send you a message… but I couldn't. I thought that you didn't deserve it."

"I know, I didn't. I will always hate myself for doing that to you. But if I only had knew-"

"But you didn't know." Katara interrupted. "It doesn't matter anymore. It is all in the past, like I said before. I'm fine now. And I love my son more than anything else in the world."

"Katara… He is my son too. And I have lost a lot of valuable time of his childhood. Please, let me spend time with him. Let him have a father."

Katara had tears in her eyes again. "Okay. But… I haven't told him that his father is the Avatar. I want him to have a normal childhood."

"Of course..."

They sat quiet for a while, until Aang broke the silence.

"You are still wearing my necklace."

"Oh." Katara touched the betrothal necklace. "I… got used to it. It would be weird if I didn't have it on. And also… People think that I'm married when I wear it. I don't have to be treated like a lonely mother."

"Katara, I know that it doesn't matter anymore… But you are never going to be a lonely mother again. From now, I'm going to be here for you and our son."

Katara smiled slightly. "Thanks… But you are wrong."

"What?"

"You said that it doesn't matter. But it does."

Katara smiled at him, and he smiled back. He pulled her into a hug, knowing that she had forgiven him. He inhaled the sweet scent of Katara's hair.

"I missed you so much, Katara."

"I… I missed you to. More than I realized."

Aang pulled back to look her in the eyes. She met his gaze. Then her eyes moved slowly down to his lips. Aang leaned forward, but he stopped when his lips were a few inches away from Katara's. He could feel her breath on his lips. Then she kissed him.

The familiar feeling of her lips against his filled Aang with an indescribable happiness. He wrapped his arms around her wrist and pulled her closer to him. Aang felt his body heat up when she pressed her body against his. He moved his hands down to her hips. Katara pulled back with a sigh. Without a word, she took his hand and led him into the bedroom.

They fell down on the bed, Aang on top, kissing passionately. Katara pulled off Aang's shirt and caressed his bare chest. Aang quickly removed her shirt and her chest bindings. Katara moaned when he moved his lips down to her breast. It was all familiar. They had done this before. But after over two years apart, none of them had patience to go slow. They quickly removed the rest of their clothes. Katara moaned loudly when Aang entered her. He silenced her with a kiss, knowing that there was a sleeping child in the house. After a moment Katara gasped loudly and bit her lip to not scream when she reached climax. Aang joined her a few seconds later.

He rolled off her, exhausted. Katara snuggled close to him and she rested her head on his chest. They were both still breathing hard. Aang pulled the cover over them.

"I love you, Katara." He said.

It was the truth. He had never stopped loving her. He hadn't felt this happy since the day he left her.

Katara didn't answer.

"Katara?"

Katara's eyes were closed, and Aang realized that she had fallen asleep. He stroked some hair out off her beautiful, sleeping face. Then he wrapped his arms around her body, holding her close. He closed his eyes and fell asleep with Katara in his arms. He hadn't fallen asleep that easy for over two years.

-:-:-

Aang opened his eyes. He wasn't in his own room. He smiled when he remembered last night. But Katara was no longer in his arms. Her clothes were also gone. He wondered if he had slept to long, but the sunlight told him that is what still early in the morning. He got up from the bed and found his clothes. He got dressed and went to find Katara.

But suddenly Aang heard someone giggle. He smiled when he saw which room the sound was coming from. He opened the door slowly. His son looked up surprised when Aang walked into the room. He was sitting in his bed, holding a teddy bear. When he recognized Aang, he smiled and reached out his hands for him. Aang smiled back and lifted him up from the bed.

"Hey, little guy. Did you sleep well?"

"Hungry." The boy said and looked at Aang with his big, grey eyes.

The same color of eyes that Aang had.

"Your mom is probably making breakfast. Let's see if we can find her!"

The boy giggled, and it was like music in Aang's ears. He couldn't believe that he had missed so much of his son's childhood. His first laugh, his first word, his first step…

They walked into the kitchen. Katara was standing with her back towards them. Aang smiled when she saw her beautiful body.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said, smiling.

"Good morning-" Katara's smile turned into shock when she turned around and saw them. She dropped the bottle of water she had been holding, and it hit the floor with a loud crash.

The little boy winched at the loud sound, and he looked like he was going to cry. Katara quickly walked over to them and took the boy from Aang.

"It's okay… Mommy just dropped a bottle." She said and hugged him close.

"Katara… What's wrong?" Aang asked while he waterbended the water from the floor.

"N-nothing." Katara said quickly.

Aang waterbended the water into another bottle, and then he picked up the pieces of glass from the floor.

"You don't want me to hold him." Aang said in a matter-in-fact tone.

Katara sighed. "It's not that. I just got a little bit surprised. I… I don't let other people hold him, except for Sokka and my father. And it took me two months to even trust him to them."

"Why..? What happened?"

"I had a pretty traumatic birth giving. I was alone… My father was travelling, and Sokka was on Kyoshi Island with Suki. The nurses said that I had screamed your name while giving birth… I don't remember it. I was so scared. When they gave me my baby, I never wanted to give him away. I was afraid I would be alone again…"

Katara hugged her son close to her, and met Aang's gaze. She looked surprised.

"Aang! You are crying…"

Aang wiped his tears. "I can't believe how much I hurt you…"

Katara took his hand. "It's okay… The important part is that you are here now."

Katara putted the boy in his chair and started to feed him. Aang took a deep breath and sat down on the seat next to the boy. He watched Katara feed him. The little boy tried to grab the spoon all the time, like he wanted to eat by himself. Aang couldn't help to smile.

"What did you name him?" He asked.

Katara smiled. "Can you tell mommy's… friend what your name is?" She asked the boy.

"Tenzin." The boy said with his mouth full of food.

Aang laughed. "That's a beautiful name." He said to the boy. Then he turned his gaze to Katara. "It's an Air Nomad name."

Katara nodded. "His father is an airbender." She said and smiled.

Tenzin had finished his food, and Katara set him down on the floor. He started to stubble around.

"He started to walk a few weeks ago. He still is pretty unsteady." Katara gave her son a loving smile.

"Katara…" Aang said. "Will I just be 'mommy's friend'?"

He was talking quietly, so that Tenzin wouldn't hear them.

"Well… What do you want me to tell him? That we used to be together and that you then left me while I was pregnant with him?"

"We used to be together? What about last night?"

Katara smiled, but then she looked concerned. "But Aang, People will freak out if they found out that the Avatar has a secret son…"

"I don't care about it. The only thing I care about is you, and our son. I want to be together with you." Aang suddenly knew what he wanted to do.

"Katara…" He took her hand in his. "Will you marry me… again?"

Katara looked surprised, but then she smiled. She took off her betrothal necklace and gave it to Aang. He putted it back around her neck. Katara threw her arms around his neck, and he pulled her into a kiss.

"I'm never going to leave again." Aang whispered against Katara's lips.

They heard giggling and Tenzin came stumbling towards them. Aang reached out his arms for his son, and Tenzin stumbled into them. Katara gave her son a kiss on the cheek.

"Tenzin, this is Aang, and he is your father. Say hello to your daddy!"

"Hi, daddy!" Tenzin giggled, and Katara laughed.

"It's like he knew all along." Aang said amazed.

"Maybe he did." Katara said smiling.

She kissed her future husband, and their son clapped his small hands.


End file.
